"The need for increased civics education is warranted given the astounding lack of proficiency in U.S. civics and government," Boback said in a statement Thursday, citing national studies reporting only 24 percent of U.S. high school students are proficient in civics.

The new test, which Democratic Gov. Wolf said he would sign, would be separate from the state's academic standards for civics and government, which lay out what students in specific grades should know about the mechanics of government and the rights of citizenship. School districts can meet that requirement in a variety of ways, said John M. Callahan, chief advocacy officer at the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

The new civics test would take effect in the 2020-21 school year — a year after a requirement is slated to go into effect that students pass the Keystone exams before graduating from high school. (Wolf delayed the graduation requirement until the 2019-20 school year.) The Keystone exams test a variety of subjects, including algebra and literature, according to the state Department of Education's website.

Boback's bill would allow schools to determine when to administer the civics test, as long as it's done at least once between seventh and 12th grades. The test could be developed locally by a school district, or districts could use one developed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Students who earn a perfect score on the new test would receive a certificate of recognition from the Education Department.

USA.gov

Boback's bill passed handily in the House of Representatives — and unanimously in the Senate — this week. However, some who voted against the bill, such as Rep. Mary Jo Daley (D., Montgomery), said they have lingering questions.

In an interview Thursday, Daley said she was not convinced that a new test is the best way of addressing concern about ignorance of how government works.

"One of our members raised concerns that we're not doing a great job teaching the history of our country, including a lot of the groups that we don't talk about at all and their part in history," she said. "[We're] talking about African Americans, about Asians, and about different religions."